Residents are urged to exercise caution when driving through the fire area, including yielding to fire apparatus and obeying road closure barriers where posted.

Federal officials warned Wednesday that a relatively dry winter coupled with warm summer weather could make for a devastating fire season.

“Significant fire potential will be above normal” for Southern California and other areas of the West, the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, said in its first outlook report for the 2013 fire season.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has responded to more than 680 wildfires this year, more than 200 over the average for the period, the agency said.